Terrible tragedy, coincidental name

One of the people killed this week in a plane crash with former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, was a former aide named Bill Phillips.

Nashville has its own Republican politico named Bill Phillips, the former deputy mayor. Phillips, who once worked for President George H.W. Bush (the older George Bush, who was president from 1989 to 1993), said he got several calls Tuesday from old friends in Washington, D.C., who worried he was the victim.

“Several people called, and I’d answer, and they’d say, ‘Oh! It’s good to hear your voice,’ ” Phillips said this morning.

Phillips was the top aide to former Mayor Bill Purcell. Purcell is actually a Democrat, but the mayor’s office is a non-partisan position.

In other news, Phillips, who worked for Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey’s gubernatorial campaign, said Ramsey plans to take Republican nominee Bill Haslam to a NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which is near Ramsey’s Blountville home. Haslam is the mayor of Knoxville.